Pujara Named in Test Squad as Yuvraj misses out

22-year-old batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has been named in India's Test squad to play Australia in two matches in Chandigarh and Bangalore next month.

Yuvraj Singh, who lost his place in the middle order to Suresh Raina on India's recent tour of Sri Lanka, has been omitted from the squad, which also sees quick bowlers Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan handed recalls.

Sreesanth missed the tour of Sri Lanka with a knee injury while Zaheer missed out due to a shoulder problem and their return gives the bowling added experience. Their recalls mean there is no place in the squad for Abhimanyu Mithun, who made his debut in Sri Lanka having flown in as a replacement for Zaheer.

Saurashtra batsman Pujara has scored 3,925 runs in 49 first-class matches at an average of 60.38, including an unbeaten 302 against Orissa in the 2008/9 Ranji Trophy, which came as one of three triples in the space of a month - the other two being scored for the Saurashtra Under-22s.

In 2001, he scored 306 not out for Saurashtra Under-14s against Baroda Under-14s.

The contest, which gets underway on 1st October, pits India, the side at the top of the ICC rankings for Test teams, against an Australian side which could only draw 1-1 with Pakistan in England earlier this year.

They begin with a three-day tour match in Chandigarh on Saturday (25th September) and follow the Test series with three One-Day Internationals.

India Test squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, Ishant Sharma, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay,

Mumbai Vs Bangalore a Virtual QF

Durban: Bangalore's loss on Friday against the South Australia Redbacks has given the Mumbai Indians a ray of hope to qualify for the semi-finals of the Champions League T20 and turned their game against fellow IPL side on Sunday into a virtual quarter-final clash.

With one win from three games and the last league outing on Sunday, Mumbai know that they must win this game to keep their hopes alive of making it to the last four. It definitely helps that they have a positive net run rate and a big win will only help them as the photo-finish in the race to the second semi-final spot hots up in this group and will in all probability be decided by decimals.

The Lions, who are placed fourth in the group, will eye a win against Guyana in the first game of the day. A win will put them on four points and also put them within striking distance of a semi-final berth with one game left to play. Bangalore too have two games left, but the team management will surely like to register two straight wins to wrap up a semi-final spot without any more hiccups.

Only Mumbai have Sunday's game to play and therefore, cannot afford to lose the plot now. They have paid for the price of batting and bowling inconsistently and have been stunned by less-fancied sides in two games.

The Sachin Tendulkar-led side had promised a lot with their impressive IPL season but have just failed to click as a unit here.

Except for Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, who has bagged six wickets by conceding 83 runs in the three matches, none of the Mumbai Indians bowlers have made a mark and that has been the main reason for their tough times in this tournament.

Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh have been disappointing so far. Zaheer has taken just one wicket having conceded 105 runs in the three matches, while Harbhajan has scalped two at the expense of 86 runs.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore began the tournament with an easy nine-wicket win over Guyana with South African Jacques Kallis starring with the bat and ball. They, however, were brought down to earth with a humiliating eight-wicket loss to South Australia Redbacks on Friday.

Without Kallis, the Anil Kumble-led side failed in both batting and bowling as they were shot out for 154 and then none of their bowlers, including the captain himself and South African Dale Steyn, making much impact against the Australian side.

Bushrangers look to hunt the Stags

Centurion: After a 28-run loss in the opener that is sure to have dented Victoria Bushrangers' pride, the champion T20 side from Australia will be hungry for success when they take on trans-Tasman rivals Central Stags in their second game here at the Centurion on Wednesday.

The Bushrangers were left shell-shocked by South African club Warriors who played out of their skins to upset the Aussie team, who are a pedigreed T20 lot having won the KFC Big Bash on four out of the five occasions.

The Australian team, who were among the favourites in the first edition last year before they lost in the last four stage to eventual champions New South Wales Blues, need a win to keep their hopes alive in this tournament. Another loss on Wednesday means that they will need to win their remaining two games to make it to the last four stage.

On paper they are definitely stronger than the Stags, but they will be cautious knowing full well that overconfidence will do them more harm than good. The Stags too are coming off a crushing defeat at the hands of the Chennai Super Kings, who beat them by 57 runs on Sunday and face the ominous task of facing up to the Bushrangers' strong bowling attack.

At the top of the order, Peter Ingram, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair will have to get the Stags off to a good start if they do not repeat of their collapse against Chennai where their individual scores put together read more like a telephone number.

On the other hand, the Bushrangers too will have to ensure that their batsmen keep their cool. Most of the top order batsmen managed to get starts in the last game, but fell just when it seemed that a partnership was being strung together.

A must-win game for both teams, the losing side can kiss their chances of a semi-final finish goodbye.